Mars Volta’s lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. His battles with the church aren’t over | Entertainment News

LOS ANGELES — In October 2022, the Mars Volta walked onto the stage of a sold-out Hollywood Palladium for their first L.A. show in a decade. For three nights, to nearly 12,000 fans in total, the punk/prog/Latin band — with core members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, 48, and Omar Rodríguez-López, 47 — played three-hour sets of searing, heady jams.

Long lauded as one of heavy music’s most ambitious acts, they played cuts like “Inertiatic ESP” with a vicious new focus. On the sinister “Blacklight Shine,” falsetto-wailing frontman Bixler-Zavala sang in Spanish: “Karma’s slow to come/ But it will come/ You’re going to pay.” Then he switched to English: “Help me out of this godforsaken cure … I’ll shine the blackest light/ To the culprit on all fours.”

Many fans knew exactly where those lyrics were pointed. Scientology’s Celebrity Centre was just a mile away. The church, Bixler-Zavala claims in an interview and lawsuit, nearly destroyed his band and his family.

Bixler-Zavala began attending programs at the Church of Scientology in 2009 after his wife, Chrissie Carnell Bixler, introduced him to the organization’s tight-knit scene of actors and artists.

In 2016, Carnell Bixler alleged that “That ‘70s Show” actor Danny Masterson, a fellow Scientologist, had sexually and physically assaulted her in the early 2000s, joining two other women testifying against Masterson in his criminal trial on rape charges (a fourth joined a civil suit against him). The Bixlers allege the church then began a relentless campaign of harassment and threats against them, including poisoning their dogs, stalking and surveilling them and claiming they were “fair game” for retaliation, according to their 2019 civil suit filed against Masterson, the Church of Scientology International and its leader David Miscavige (Bixler-Zavala is also a plaintiff in the civil suit).

Masterson’s criminal case ended in a mistrial in November. Prosecutors refiled the case and a second trial began in April; if found guilty, Masterson could face 45 years to life in prison. The civil suit is set for a hearing on June 28.

Masterson pleaded not guilty to all charges in the criminal case. A spokesperson for Masterson declined to comment on the case or the allegations in the civil suit.

Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw said in a statement to the L.A. Times that “the scandalous allegations about the Church” contained in the Bixlers’ suit “are complete fabrications.” She denied that the Church of Scientology had anything to do with the death of the Bixlers’ dogs, and denied the harassment and surveillance allegations.

While the Bixlers await the outcome of the second trial, on April 21, the Mars Volta released its second new album in a year. “Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazón” (“May God Curse You My Love”) is a Latin revamp of their 2022 self-titled comeback LP, pulling from the duo’s Mexican and Puerto Rican heritages and anti-colonial politics.

The band dissolved back in 2013, in part due to Bixler-Zavala’s involvement with the church (Rodríguez-López did not become a Scientologist). It took years for the longtime friends and bandmates to fully reconcile.

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LOS ANGELES — In October 2022, the Mars Volta walked onto the stage of a sold-out Hollywood Palladium for their first L.A. show in a decade. For three nights, to nearly 12,000 fans in total, the punk/prog/Latin band — with core members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, 48, and Omar Rodríguez-López, 47 — played three-hour sets of searing, heady jams.

Long lauded as one of heavy music’s most ambitious acts, they played cuts like “Inertiatic ESP” with a vicious new focus. On the sinister “Blacklight Shine,” falsetto-wailing frontman Bixler-Zavala sang in Spanish: “Karma’s slow to come/ But it will come/ You’re going to pay.” Then he switched to English: “Help me out of this godforsaken cure … I’ll shine the blackest light/ To the culprit on all fours.”

Many fans knew exactly where those lyrics were pointed. Scientology’s Celebrity Centre was just a mile away. The church, Bixler-Zavala claims in an interview and lawsuit, nearly destroyed his band and his family.

Bixler-Zavala began attending programs at the Church of Scientology in 2009 after his wife, Chrissie Carnell Bixler, introduced him to the organization’s tight-knit scene of actors and artists.

In 2016, Carnell Bixler alleged that “That ‘70s Show” actor Danny Masterson, a fellow Scientologist, had sexually and physically assaulted her in the early 2000s, joining two other women testifying against Masterson in his criminal trial on rape charges (a fourth joined a civil suit against him). The Bixlers allege the church then began a relentless campaign of harassment and threats against them, including poisoning their dogs, stalking and surveilling them and claiming they were “fair game” for retaliation, according to their 2019 civil suit filed against Masterson, the Church of Scientology International and its leader David Miscavige (Bixler-Zavala is also a plaintiff in the civil suit).

Masterson’s criminal case ended in a mistrial in November. Prosecutors refiled the case and a second trial began in April; if found guilty, Masterson could face 45 years to life in prison. The civil suit is set for a hearing on June 28.

Masterson pleaded not guilty to all charges in the criminal case. A spokesperson for Masterson declined to comment on the case or the allegations in the civil suit.

Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw said in a statement to the L.A. Times that “the scandalous allegations about the Church” contained in the Bixlers’ suit “are complete fabrications.” She denied that the Church of Scientology had anything to do with the death of the Bixlers’ dogs, and denied the harassment and surveillance allegations.

While the Bixlers await the outcome of the second trial, on April 21, the Mars Volta released its second new album in a year. “Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazón” (“May God Curse You My Love”) is a Latin revamp of their 2022 self-titled comeback LP, pulling from the duo’s Mexican and Puerto Rican heritages and anti-colonial politics.

The band dissolved back in 2013, in part due to Bixler-Zavala’s involvement with the church (Rodríguez-López did not become a Scientologist). It took years for the longtime friends and bandmates to fully reconcile.

…continued

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